Sept. 18, 2011MAIOCCO ARCHIVE
49ERS PAGE 49ERS VIDEO
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Matt MaioccoCSNBayArea.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Tight end Vernon Davis was not the forgotten man in the 49ers' offense on Sunday, after all.The 49ers' offensive game plan called for him to have an active role -- as a blocker in front of Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware. That was one of the elements of the 49ers' 27-24 overtime loss that surprised Davis, he said.Davis caught just two passes for 18 yards. And those were the only two Alex Smith passes that came his way. After the game, Davis made a plea to get spread the ball around.

"I thought we played well, but we still got to get everybody involved -- all the playmakers," Davis said. "In order to win games, everything we have has to be involved?Did Davis feel involved?"Yeah, I did all I can do to help my team win," Davis said. "I did everything the coaches asked me to do. I played my role. They asked me to block, I did it."Davis, the team's leading receiver the past two seasons, seemed to be involved more as a blocker against the Cowboys' dominating sack artist."I didn't think that was going to happen," Davis said. "I thought I'd be out in the route. I thought I'd be running a lot of routes, especially because their secondary is banged up. I thought we could take advantage of it from that aspect."But that's up to the coaches each week to decide what they want to do. No, I did not think I'd be up against Ware like that."Davis said he was also surprised that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh did not take points off the board after David Akers' 55-yard field goal with 11:12 remaining in the fourth quarter gave the 49ers' a 24-14 lead. The 49ers could've had a first down at the Cowboys' 22-yard line. But Harbaugh decided to keep the points on the board and have the penalty assessed on the kickoff.
"I was surprised, but I just had that belief no matter what happened that we'd still come out with a victory," Davis said.The Cowboys scored a touchdown and field goal on their final two possessions of regulation to send the game into overtime. Then, receiver Jesse Holley's 77-yard field goal set up Dan Bailey's 19-yard field goal in overtime to send the 49ers (1-1) to defeat.